Child Safety Blog

Researchers at Virginia Tech and Children’s National Medical Center found in a recent study that many young children in the District of Columbia may have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead during the water crisis from 2001 to 2004, reports the Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig.

The study, published last week in Environmental Science and Technology, contradicts the federal and DC health officials' repeated assurance that there was “no identifiable public health impact from elevated lead levels in drinking water.” The US Environmental Protection Agency and the DC Water and Sewer Authority cited a 2004 report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found no increased blood lead level in households where high levels of lead were found in tap water.

The problem in the District of Columbia is that many homes still have lead pipes that run from the water main under the street to the home.

Lead-poisoned children are at risk of many permanent neurological damages, including irreversible IQ loss, developmental delays, aggression, and difficulty focusing in school. D.C. residents whose children were two-years-old or younger during the water crisis are encouraged to monitor their kids. To reduce the impact of lead poisoning, doctors recommend “healthful, calcium-rich diet and an enriching educational environment that includes reading to them regularly.”